TV Review: Limitless (1X03) “The Legend of Marcos Ramos”

While watching tonight’s episode of Limitless, it occurred to me that this writer’s room must be an absolute blast. I bring this up because as the show continues to evolve and form it’s procedural structure, it’s becoming very clear that it has no interest in presenting anything in a standard way. Cut-aways and visual gags seem to be the name of the game here, at least for now. This attention deficit disorder could be disastrous if the show ultimately becomes bored of itself. As it stands, it’s making for some pretty fun little cases, even if it’s starting to seem like Brian’s NZT powers are basically a cheat code for a really easy video game.

Brian and Rebecca found themselves investigating the murder of former FBI agent Dixon by sniper rifle. Cycling through a series of potential suspects who were in line to replace Dixon, the murder was ultimately linked to a deadly drug lord turned police informant by the name of Marcos Ramos (who’s legend was built up by an adorable little exploitation movie style montage, man-eating piranhas and all). Ultimately though, Ramos proved to be a bit of a bust, as a dirty task force of FBI agents initially assigned to help Brian and Rebecca ended up being the real culprits behind Dixon’s murder. Honestly, it was a fairly standard mystery. Nothing bad, but certainly nothing that really took advantage of Brian’s abilities, even if there were a couple of quirky little NZT gags along the way.

The strongest part of this episode was getting to see the friendship between Brian and Rebecca finally start to take shape. Through a somewhat trite side-story involving Brian re-uniting with “one who got away” Shauna (Crazy Stupid Love’s Analeigh Tipton), our two partners finally got to talking about something besides work. Sure, we had to deal with Brian realizing that perhaps Shauna is slightly vein for only appreciating his newly re-vamped self, but it was worth it to see Rebecca finally show a more compassionate and friendly side. Plus, one of the episode’s biggest hits was “Rebecca’s Awesome Takedown”, a little vignette where Brian gave us his action movie version of Rebecca taking in a suspect. Hopefully, this dynamic will keep blossoming as we go on, and not shoe horn itself into a romance.

Also, man oh man does this show like to remind us that somewhere out there, Bradley Cooper’s Eddie is pulling the strings. Not only did the episode start with yet another flash-back to his pivotal guest-appearance on the pilot, but another one of his agents made himself known. In the final moments of the episode, fixer Jared Sands (a very welcome Colin Salmon)came to Brian with harsh words. Now Morra’s little puppet will get assignments from Sands as well as the FBI that must be carried out exactly as he says, or somebody close to home could be in danger. It’s an interesting little pinch of tension to add to the looming monster Eddie’s plan, but it definitely feels like this story will have to do some stalling until Cooper is available for another cameo. Something tells me it’ll concede with the release of his upcoming film Burnt, but we will have to see.

Even though this was by far Limitless’ weakest episode thus far, it still entertained by finding fun in it’s most dull elements. Even the somewhat cliched love story that took up a whole lot of time had a bit of pay off, as we at least got to see Rebecca come into her own as Brian’s confidant. Something tells me we might be spinning our wheels for a couple of weeks as the show finds its general footing, so it’s a good thing we’re sitting in such a solidly made car.

7/10

When Michael Fairbanks first saw Sam Rami's Spider-Man film back in 2002, everything changed. The experience began a lifelong passion for cinema that has gone undeterred since. In 2009 he began reviewing movies on Youtube, which ultimately sprang into a lifelong passion for film criticism and entertainment reporting. He is currently studying screenwriting at Chapman University. Aside from seeing movies, Michael enjoys making bad puns while playing video games, going on long late night drives, and socializing over large plates of food.
For more of Fairbanks' movie reviews check out: https://fairbanksonfilm.wordpress.com